Plant of the week> Brazil cherry

Common garden and street planting, they are now in season in northern NSW/ S.E. Queensland.

Eugenia uniflora is a small tree up to 5-7.5 m high but often a much smaller shrub. Branches are are thin and wiry and develop close to the ground. It has attractive oval and pointed leaves, dark green and shiny, 2.5-6 cm long by 1.5-3 cm wide. New leaves are dark purple or red. The flowers are small and white and the fruit is lobed and red. There is a single large seed inside, about 3 cm across and is sharp, yet pleasurable when fully ripen.

It is also an invasive exotic, now naturalised all the way up to Far North Queensland.